Coastal convention center still needed (editorial)

(Press-Register file photo)Damaged buildings line the Gulf Shores beach after Hurricane Ivan struck Baldwin County in 2004. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have long since recovered, but the beachfront lodging at Gulf State Park was never rebuilt.

SEVEN YEARS after Hurricane Ivan roared through the outdated beachfront lodging at Gulf State Park, the state has yet to replace it with a hotel and convention center that would benefit all of Pleasure Island.

This failure is not the fault of former Gov. Bob Riley or current Gov. Robert Bentley. Gov. Riley’s innovative plan for a public-private partnership involving Auburn University was tied up in court for years and eventually ruled illegal by the Alabama Supreme Court. Gov. Bentley wants to get a center built, but the state is short on money for any projects.

Back in March, Charles Grimsley, the former conservation commissioner who successfully derailed the Riley proposal, told the Press-Register he would in turn take Gov. Bentley to court if the governor pushed “a warmed-over illegal Riley Ritz-Carlton.” He claims that state parks should be accessible to everyone.

Mr. Grimsley, however, has long ignored three facts: 1) Gulf State Park remains perfectly accessible, 2) other reasonably priced accommodations are already available in the park and 3) beachfront hotel rooms in Gulf State Park have been available to nobody since 2004.

It was good to hear state Tourism Director Lee Sentell reinforce the governor’s commitment to the cause this week at a conference of the Economic Development Association of Alabama in Orange Beach.

The EDAA can fit into a local resort. But the Alabama Medical Association and the state Bar Association can’t, and Mr. Sentell said in-state organizations spend some $200 million annually holding conferences in Destin, Fla.

With those numbers, a state-run hotel and convention center in coastal Alabama would pay for itself in short order.

The source of construction money is obvious: BP. U.S. senators representing Gulf Coast states have agreed on a division of fine money for violations of the Clean Water Act during the BP oil spill. Billions of dollars are expected to be available to the states, and a hotel/convention center is just the sort of long-term investment that’s needed.

Until that money becomes available, the Bentley administration needs to be working on how to structure the project so that it will survive a legal challenge. The center will bring business and tax dollars into Alabama, and that benefits every Alabamian.